REPORT: Digital Expert Claims Obamacare’s Online Defenders ‘Paid to Post’

Digital expert Matthew Brown told Full Measure host Sharyl Attkisson that users on social media were being misled about support for Obamacare by paid posters.

Matthew Brown’s report sampled over 200,000 Facebook posts defending Obamacare and found that 60 percent came from as few as 100 profiles. “Sixty percent of all the posts were made from 100 profiles, posting between the hours of 9 and 5 Pacific Time,” said Brown. “They were paid to post.”

Brown discussed the existence of botted or “zombie” Facebook accounts, used to generate artificial support for an idea or opinion.

“A zombie post is a fake, purchased, or rented Facebook profile that’s expressing the views of an organization as if it was his or her own,” said Brown. “But, when in reality, the comment being expressed is done on software and written by generally one or two people. So, the zombie posts will go out on a schedule and then they are supported by zombie likes.”

After Brown’s health insurance costs tripled under Obamacare, he began investigating the Obamacare Facebook page. It was then that Brown says he was “bombarded” by digital activists using the Facebook profiles of ordinary people. “Digital activists are paid employees; their purpose is to attack anyone who’s posting something contrary to the view the page owner wants expressed,” said Brown.

Full Frontal also reported that the government was even using these tactics: “Leaked emails show the feds seeking ‘persona management’ software to ‘allow 10 personas per user.’ They talk of creating an ‘army’ of fake social media profiles maintained by actors ‘gaming’ to hide their true location, and using ‘tricks’ to ‘add a level of realness…to all fictitious personas.'”